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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23466010">Bad Guy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercury_wings/pseuds/mercury_wings'>mercury_wings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst but also comfort, Basically Roman and Remus are actual siblings and act accordingly, But it's ok they're good they're just anxious, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Deceit n remus bond over being soft for Roman, Roman has so many panic attacks man it's almost like I enjoy making him suffer, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, The light sides r low-key being bastards, Virgil fucks up, Virgil fucks up soooo bad, but it gets better, eventually, got it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:15:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23466010</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercury_wings/pseuds/mercury_wings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you think I'm a bad guy ?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remus blinks. “You what ?”</p>
<p>“Me- I-“ Roman gestures at himself, frustration very clear in the way his fingers curl towards his palm. “Am I a bad guy ?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The duke was not often at a loss for words, and was even less often at a loss for words to tell his brother. Not even a colourful insult made it past his lips. He blinks owlishly, again, then opens his mouth. “What ?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why are there dark and light sides ? Roman finds the separation useless, if not harmful. So the prince decides to go down the forbidden path : become buddy buddies with the antagonists.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Deceit Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders &amp; Deceit Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>116</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>quick disclaimer : this is not a fic with any unsympathetic side. You might find that Virgil especially might seem pretty mean at some points but it is justified, and he is NOT a bad guy. I love him, he's just pretty anxious.</p>
<p>You may proceed and enjoy now :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Remus. Hey Remus. Idiot. Bastard. Dude guy. Brother dear. Dukey. Something. C’mon. Can you listen to me. For a second.”</p>
<p><br/>Said Remus, a little angry about being disrupted while picking the wings off a butterfly, makes a noncommittal sound to signify he was giving his attention to his brother. He does not look at him, though. He still had butterflies to play with, and he could half-listen to his brother and continue his business.</p>
<p><br/>He points at his ear. “If you need an ear, I can lend you one-“ and gestures to rip it off but Roman sits down next to him before he can. He does not even remark on the movement; it throws Remus off-guard.</p>
<p>He puts his butterfly down to turn his head to his brother, not able to hide surprise from his face. “What ? You don't want my ear ? That's rude-“</p>
<p><br/>“Do you think I'm a bad guy ?</p>
<p><br/>Remus blinks. “You what ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Me- I-“ Roman gestures at himself, frustration very clear in the way his fingers curl towards his palm. “Am I a bad guy ?”</p>
<p><br/>The duke was not often at a loss for words, and was even less often at a loss for words to tell his brother. Not even a colourful insult made it past his lips. He blinks owlishly, again, then opens his mouth. “What ?"</p>
<p><br/>“Oh come on you radioactive rat,” the nickname almost calms Remus down, “you know what I’m talking about.”</p>
<p><br/>“Do I ?” Never mind, he was not calm.</p>
<p><br/>Roman sends him one of his rarest glares, those who were to be used only when in deep debate against Logan or Virgil. His brother was in deep turmoil, it seemed. “I mean, really, Romano dear, I do not recall anything about you being...” </p>
<p><br/>“A bad guy."</p>
<p><br/>“Whatever that means.”</p>
<p><br/>Poor Prince groans loudly, before grabbing one of the butterflies Remus had patiently made to destroy. He lunges to take it back, almost complaining as he expects the Disney fan to make it come back to life but against all odds, he rips it up.</p>
<p><br/>Remus watches, bewildered, as his twin weakly puts the messed up butterfly on the ground, breathes deeply, then “Can I have another one please.” He asks sheepishly.</p>
<p><br/>Now the duke was starting to lowkey panic. He nevertheless blindly grabs a few butterflies which he puts in the other’s open hand. Roman silently nods and accepts them, disposing them on his lap while Remus wonders what to say next; he was never out of words, this was a weird situation.</p>
<p><br/>As his brother starts to very carefully pick at one creature's wing, Remus leans backwards, linking his hands atop his head in a stretch. “Sooooo,” he starts, uneasy, “why did you come see your most favourite brother ? Not that I dislike the company.”</p>
<p><br/>“I asked my question already, but,” he pauses, seemingly drawn into ripping the wing off as cleanly as possible, “I’ve been thinking about some stuff. My role especially.”</p>
<p><br/>“Your role, or our role ?” Remus corrects almost instantly, which causes Roman to flinch and make a sloppy dent in the butterfly's body. “I mean, since we’re like-“</p>
<p><br/>“I know Remus, I know.” </p>
<p><br/>“You're being awfully comprehensive with me today, I am starting to worry !” he exclaims in a shrill tone, bordering on hysteria. It was funny, it was, but at the same time, it really did worry him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>What had the other sides done this time ?</p>
<p><br/>“Look, last time when Deceit came in, I agreed with him.”</p>
<p><br/>Remus stops laughing. Oh.</p>
<p><br/>“That was blunt, sorry, let me-“</p>
<p><br/>“You do not always need to flourish such facts, brother dear, I understood.”</p>
<p><br/>Roman’s eyes widen, and he puts the butterfly in two pieces on the ground. “You do ?”</p>
<p><br/>“It's quite simple- you agreed with the antagonist of the story, and now you're questioning if you can remain a good hero although you still agree with said antagonist.” Remus explains, intensely staring at his brother who seemed to refuse to raise his head.</p>
<p> <br/>“I mean, the callback could have changed Thomas' life.” He simply mutters as an answer.</p>
<p><br/>“And I agree with you.”</p>
<p><br/>“Of course you do.” Roman sighs. “We’re the same.”<br/>His tone had went bleak, definitely not prince-like. He sounded exhausted. So it seemed his constant energy was not unlimited after all. Normally, it would have made Remus feel superior, as if he had proven a point, but in this case it just felt wrong.</p>
<p><br/>Awkwardly wrong. “Romano, princey dandy, you of all people must agree that I and Deceit are not... Entirely bad, correct ?”</p>
<p><br/>He had gotten back to picking at a butterfly, and when he finally detaches his eyes from it to stare at his brother, the bright prince looks defeated. “I do. Because well-“ he swallows the following words, almost chokes on them, but keeps going, “I agree with both of you, to a certain extent.”</p>
<p><br/>“Now that was not so hard to admit, was it ?” Remus coos, extending a hand to pat his brother's back. He almost expects a punch for the gesture, but nothing comes, and he manages to land his warm palm without rejection.</p>
<p><br/>Now that, that felt very weird. </p>
<p><br/>“Don’t patronize me.” </p>
<p><br/>That felt more normal. “I would never !”</p>
<p><br/>Roman chuckles, breaking the terribly uneasy atmosphere and filling Remus with disgustingly warm relief. But his face quickly scrunches up again, eyes darting back to the dead butterfly between his fingers. Uh-oh.</p>
<p><br/>“But Remus-“ he was using his name, no terribly stupid inventive nickname “- does that mean Patton and Virgil hate me ? Because- because they hate you and Deceit- and if I ever agree with you-then they’ll hate me too- no ?”</p>
<p><br/>The duke lets out a bitter laugh at that. He does note down how Logan had not been mentioned in the bunch, since he always had a way more reasonable approach (could he even hate or love anything other than jam?). The speech did remind him of some older days, when anxiety used to-</p>
<p><br/>“Romulus,” it felt weird to use this name, “they already opposed you in such debates, have they not ?"</p>
<p><br/>Roman looks taken aback by hearing his real name, but does not comment on it. “Yeah. Yeah they have,”</p>
<p><br/>“But they have not banished you, nor antagonized you because of said opposition, no ?” he continues, feeling the feelings getting in his questions. He hated it.</p>
<p><br/>“I mean, I guess Thomas always explained why I had my point of view, and I always,” he bites his lip, “I always let them win the argument.”</p>
<p><br/>“That’s what makes you different from me and Deceit,” Remus immediately cuts in, unable to let him continue. It was uneasy enough, seeing the passionate ego broken, he did not need to hear him more. “You let them win. You let the morally whitey whites win the argument because you know they'd never forgive you, and therefore Thomas would never forgive you.”</p>
<p><br/>As he takes a deep breath, the prince whispers a very tiny “I don't want Thomas to be angry at me.” The sound reminds Remus of a little bird ready to leap from its nest just to please its mother, with the knowledge that it'll plummet to the ground and die. He hates it. The metaphor does not even sound funny to him anymore.</p>
<p><br/>“I know, Romulus.” He says instead of anything else he was thinking about.</p>
<p><br/>“I wish he wasn't mad at you two either."</p>
<p><br/>Now that left Remus with nothing to say. He wants to add on, agree, but surprisingly stays silent. So Roman continues, “I mean he accepted Virgil, although he says scary stuff, right ? You two are like him too; sometimes you say scary stuff but Thomas needs you.” As the duke opens his mouth to reply, he is cut off, “Even you, Remus. If you just knew how to tone your ideas a tiny bit down you could be a great source of inspiration.”</p>
<p><br/>Remus smiles, cannot stop the fondness from spilling on his next words. “Thanks, I guess. But I can't tone it down; I must be the most of the most.”</p>
<p><br/>“I know.” Roman answers, with unmistakable fondness in his tone as well. “But please try to cut the boy some slack. He needs his sleep.”</p>
<p><br/>“I cannot promise. Virgil has been very nervous lately, it's like he's begging for my input !” </p>
<p><br/>And his brother laughs. He puts down the last butterfly in his hands to the ground, along with the other pieces of wings around both Creativities. Remus joins in the good natured laugh. Then his brother jumps to his feet, as if suddenly filled with energy, and exclaims, “Do you know where Deceit has been, lately ?”</p>
<p><br/>Remus stares at him, astonished. “You want to see Deceit ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Yes !” Roman almost yells, passion regaining its natural place in his heart. “I must speak to him about his ideas. I am sure I can convince him that his input is valuable, and that he should try to show up more often but as himself !”</p>
<p><br/>This was unbelievable. Goody two shoes Roman, the delusional prince and his shining determination, wanted to speak to the dark sides about- about helping Thomas ? Remus does not know what to say. It was true he had sometimes requested his brother's assistance in finding new ideas, as two creativities were always better than one, but now Deceit ? </p>
<p><br/>This was the complete opposite of Virgil leaving. This was the eternal egoistical optimistic who thought every single asset of a person had to contribute to help said person to become the best they could be. Roman-Romulus was too hopeful. But talking to Deceit could not hurt, right ?</p>
<p><br/>“I could, I could try to bring you to him,” he starts, the contagious passion pushing him forward, making him get up, look back at his brother's shining green eyes with the feeling that he was capable. “Maybe Deceit will be okay with seeing you. Maybe he'll listen. Maybe with you we will get more power ! Maybe-“</p>
<p><br/>“Roman ?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>His excitement crashes down. Virgil.</p>
<p><br/>Remus can see his brother physically tense up in fear, but as the excellent actor he was, he straightens his back and raises his hand in his eccentric salute.<br/>“Hello, you cheap Gerard Way copy, what can I do for you ?”</p>
<p><br/>Gears start turning in the duke's head the moment he notices Virgil's eyes falling down to the dead butterflies littering the ground. He did not care, should not care about anxiety’s point of view and yet, he anticipates a lashing.</p>
<p><br/>“What's he doing here ?” Virgil asks, instead of answering the call. “D’you need to get rid of him ?”</p>
<p><br/>Roman’s eye twitches. “No, no ! We were just having a conversation.”</p>
<p><br/>Behind his bangs, the other raises a suspicious brow. They were in their shared mind palace- or the imagination as they called it- and therefore had all the power. Virgil could not do anything.</p>
<p><br/>“I thought you hated his guts.”</p>
<p><br/>“The feeling is mutual, but we remain twins, and two parts of the same imagination, my dear.” Remus intervenes, grinning brightly. He could feel a defensive side of himself boil and rise up in anger against the anxious man in front of them, and he was not planning on repressing it. He almost starts speaking again, but Roman raises a warning hand.</p>
<p><br/>His brother remained a goody two shoes. “Is there something I can do for you, Virgil ?” He asks, clearly trying to keep peace between the two sides. Remus decides to give him his peace, but Virgil does not agree.</p>
<p><br/>“Why’d you let him out ?” he asks, venom getting in his tone. And not the good kind of venom, the one Deceit used- this one was brutal, dead-cold, aggressive. The duke nearly hisses, but again Roman cuts in.</p>
<p><br/>“I do not keep him in, to begin with.” He gently remarks. “Remus is free to roam around the imagination; it is also his home.” Virgil’s eyes turn into tiny slits, hate starting to pour right back in.</p>
<p><br/>“You mean he’s just free to give Thomas his disgusting thoughts ?” he spits, with a certain amount of incoherent paranoia- so much Virgil. Roman is taken aback, smile not quite reaching his eyes, and shakes his hands.</p>
<p><br/>Right before Remus can bite back, his brother speaks again. “Well, I cannot lock him up- he will always own a certain part of Thomas' imagination- I cannot stop that from happening.” </p>
<p><br/>Then his tone hardens, gets more decisive and the duke is happily reminded of why his nickname was royalty. “I believe you still have not told me the reason of your pleasant visit.”</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah panic at the everywhere ! Why panic here too ??” Remus finally breaks, gleefully questioning. Roman sighs, but accord him the satisfaction anyways, nodding to encourage Virgil to talk. Said anxious man’s eyes dart from one brother to the other, mouth twitching.</p>
<p><br/>He bites his lip, blinks once, shakes his head as if to push away the fear, then speaks. “Nothing. I see you're busy. I’ll swing back later.” Between clenched teeth he turns away, ready to leave as quickly as he had arrived, but the prince had other ideas.</p>
<p><br/>“No, no why leave ?”</p>
<p><br/>“I’m clearly unwanted.” Virgil snaps, pointing at Remus who innocently shrugs. He almost wants to break the other's neck with a little snap, watch his head loll backwards- but Roman could not see that. He could. Not. Not right now. Not when he was considering actively helping him.</p>
<p><br/>Said Roman gently takes a step forward, entire body language melting to please the other. “I am sorry we made you feel like that, Hot Topic. Since you hate me so much, your issue must be very important if it managed to force you to come see me.”</p>
<p><br/>He accompanies his statement with a smile that makes Remus want to light himself on fire.</p>
<p>Disgusting Prince. Virgil looks unfazed, deciding to answer to make the man stop. “Thomas needs you. He's feeling a little unmotivated right now. Patton's not helping.” He explains monotonously, eyes not leaving Remus. As if he would jump and do something to him.</p>
<p><br/>The duke was thinking of such things but now was not the time for them. Virgil was right in his panic.<br/>Roman, with his ever so annoying hero complex kicking back in, claps his hands. “Our little Thomas needs us- time for some support !!!” he exclaims, unnecessarily loudly. Remus laughs- god was his passion contagious- and watches his brother follow anxiety. Except the prince stops, turns around, and then grins at the duke.</p>
<p><br/>“Thanks for the butterflies, we'll talk later !” Roman says, waving goodbye. His brother is frozen into place as he waves back, almost sheepishly, wondering what else to do.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>“I kinda wanna kill you less than usual right now !” He yells genuinely, to empty air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, Deceit was going to love this.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. We're all upset, deal with it</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thomas is not feeling good, and taking care of him is the number one priority for the sides, or how to deal with anxiety to protect the ones you love.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay so VIRGIL CENTRIC CHAPTER he is NOT A BAD GUY OKAY DONT ANTAGONIZE HIM HE'S JUST REALLY UPSET AND SCARED OF REMUS BECAUSE OF OLD PARANOIA you know what's up</p>
<p>Also the first chapter was kind of prologue so the next ones will probably be longer. I think.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Oh god, Roman. I am almost happy to see you.”</p>
<p><br/>“I’ll take that as a compliment !”</p>
<p><br/>Virgil silently takes his place back, happy to not have any comment on his presence. He was thinking about things that were not pleasant, things that had to do with two specifically not sympathetic sides, and wanted his quiet time. He was not needed at this exact moment anyways.</p>
<p><br/>“What can I do for you, Thomas ?” Roman asks, as soon as he remembers the reason of his visit. Anxiety watches him, and for a split second wonders if it was a good idea to bring him here.</p>
<p><br/>“He's having feelings and they're not fun...” Patton mumbles as an answer, playing with the hems of the sweater on his back. Thomas nods to confirm, but nothing more.</p>
<p><br/>The prince claps his hands. “Alright then, I suppose you will not want to tell my why you are feeling as such, but I can provide distraction !” he exclaims instantly, a little too fast but energetic anyways, then pulls out a pen from his sleeve and a DVD from his pocket. “What will it be ?"</p>
<p><br/>“Why do you immediately propose a distraction ?” Logan questions, tone a little accusatory. Virgil does not miss the way Roman flinches at that, waving the pen in the air.</p>
<p><br/>“Well, I thought that is what would be best, no? Plus, distracting ourselves help calm down and take a better look at the situation.” He chitters, strained smile not leaving his face. He adds a little “no?” to punctuate his point, waiting for confirmation.</p>
<p><br/>Patton nods, giving him the point, and Logan concedes as well, not without a suspicious glance. Virgil, however, shakes his head. “We can't just distract ourselves out of this one.”</p>
<p><br/>“We always can distract ourselves !” Roman immediately counters, nervousness slipping through. “I always have something else to think about ! We can think about something else ! There's always something else ?”</p>
<p><br/>His declaration is met with silence. Nobody seems to want to pick that point up, clearly aware of the panic seething through Creativity’s stiff pen movements. Not even Thomas, already looking miserable enough, wishes to pursue the argument. </p>
<p><br/>Instead of all that could have been done, like asking Roman if he was okay, and perhaps even working on the issue, so instead Logan changes the subject. “Anyways, Roman, why did you arrive so late ? We tried to summon you but you would not come.”</p>
<p><br/>“You summoned me ?” he sheepishly pipes up. “Didn’t hear you. Felt nothing of the sort. You need to practice, four eyes.”</p>
<p><br/>“I do.” Logan awkwardly concedes. “But that does not answer my question.”</p>
<p><br/>“Which one ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Why you were so late.”</p>
<p><br/>“Ah yeah, right !” the atmosphere was getting even tenser, if that was possible, making Patton squirm. “I had some. Some stuff to deal with in the imagination ! Stories to sort by. I am a busy man. Busy man. You all would not know about that. Some plots were mixing up and I needed to-“</p>
<p><br/>“He was talking to Remus.”</p>
<p><br/>Everyone freezes when Virgil breaks the prince's lies. The tension stays, gets even heavier if that was possible, crushing down on each of them. Roman is nearly trembling, and anxiety thinks yes, you should tremble, traitor.</p>
<p><br/>He stops himself. Roman was not a traitor. Could not be a traitor. He disliked Deceit, clearly hated his twin, and this “conversation” they were having was nothing more than a conversation. Right ? Right ? But he fears, and it makes no sense, that the bright prince was thinking dangerous thoughts, because he looked very guilty with his pen pointing up and smile breaking down on his lips.</p>
<p><br/>Patton is the first one to break the silence. “Why would you be with- why would you talk to- was he giving you ideas ? Roman- why-“ his speech is in bits and pieces, breaking the smile on the prince's face quicker. He pinches his lips tightly, a shiver pushing his head backwards.</p>
<p><br/>“No he was not ! Look we are both creativity, in a sense, so it is natural that we discuss some ideas together.” he tries to cover up, patch up the fall, let it be gentler on himself. But Thomas looks so betrayed.</p>
<p><br/>Virgil is almost ashamed of his thoughts. But it was the truth. That habit Roman had to lie (just like someone else) to make things appear better for him had to stop.</p>
<p><br/>“Well I suppose that is understandable.” Logan concedes, “You two used to be the same before splitting up. It does not surprise me that you still share many traits.” He admits, giving the poor prince some air to breathe with. “Besides, someone has to listen to the duke's ideas and work through them if we do not want to repress.”</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah Roman-“ Thomas finally speaks up, “Thanks for dealing with him.”</p>
<p><br/>That’s when Virgil remarks that instead of accepting the praise as he should have had, Roman was very uncomfortably shifting on his feet. “Sure, uh” he mumbles, licks his lips nervously, “but I mean, I do not “deal” with him as you say. We simply just talk. He has some good contributions, sometimes, you know ? I do not necessarily stop him."</p>
<p><br/>Anxiety wants him to shut up. To stop talking. To stop defending the duke-but he continues. “Like for example, he gave me the idea for a murder mystery a while back. It was really interesting ! Given some of the murders were a bit extra gruesome, but the twisted moral behind the villain was very clever. I kept that one. Remember that one, Thomas ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Huh. Yeah.” A ghost of a smile makes it past the man's lips. “It was kinda creepy, but really cool.”</p>
<p><br/>As he realizes the atmosphere was calming down, and Patton looked more intrigued than upset about the story while Logan, eternal thriller fan, waited for more, Roman excitedly waves his hands. “I would have never had the idea without Remus ! I mean the plot twist is pure genius- it does involve some dark themes, but it's genius ! Honestly,” Virgil knows what's coming next, and he bites back his words, “you should listen to him more !”</p>
<p><br/>Tipping his glassed, Logan blinks with a certain destabilized agreement. “You never told us it was Remus' idea before. Though I should have guessed so.”</p>
<p><br/>“There’s a bit too much blood sometimes but-“ Patton claps his hands, “it makes me feel so much stuff!! I loved that idea !”</p>
<p><br/>“And that feral octopus has many more where that came from !” Roman victoriously exclaims, “We work on them together, and it is true I give my input for better results, but I believe it is better to speak with him instead of pushing him down and-“</p>
<p><br/>“So you mean it's better to listen to his ideas about jumping out of a window instead of staying safe ?” Virgil suddenly snaps, unable to let him continue.</p>
<p>Again, everyone goes silent. The unexplainable rage against the green clad brother makes him speak and if he does think for a second to stop because it might hurt Thomas, he does not let it take over.</p>
<p><br/>“I mean, he is dangerous, Thomas ! You gotta be more careful with him ! Next thing you know, he gets more comfortable with Roman and takes his place ! And we all know what happens when he comes in !”</p>
<p><br/>Thomas sheepishly looks down, unable to argue against him. Roman awkwardly speaks up, in annoying defence for his brother, “But he won't, and I talked to him-“</p>
<p><br/>“You cannot talk to Remus.” He bites back without a pause. “He is unstoppable. He gets over everything and everyone and turns it all into what he wants it to be-it is his purpose to be constantly talking about his ideas full nightmare mode-“</p>
<p><br/>He stops when he notices Logan's face drastically change expression. “What ?” he yells, letting all the anger out and, “Are you going to take his side too ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Virgil.”</p>
<p><br/>“What !”</p>
<p><br/>“The behaviour you just described is the same one as Roman's.”</p>
<p><br/>Oh.</p>
<p><br/>“As Creativity, most of what he does is change things into what pleases him and do his best to propose as many ideas as possible, whether you like it or not. You refuse Remus because of what he wants things to be like, but I need to remind you that you equally refuse Roman's same attitude for the same reason. The difference is that you ultimately accept Roman as his actions are usually harmless.”</p>
<p><br/>Oh.</p>
<p><br/>Now Anxiety feels ashamed. Logan had to come in with his facts and calm voice, right ? He could not have not made him feel bad for once, right ? He swallows down his boiling hot upcoming comments, instead directing his gaze to the prince, awfully quiet.<br/>Seeing his shoulders slumped down make Virgil want to break everything down including himself. “Roman, I-“</p>
<p><br/>“I knew you hated me but at that point ? I’m” Roman sighs, avoiding eye contact, pushing his fingers on his forehead. “I kind of expected it- yet-“ he laughs feebly,  “It really hurt.”</p>
<p><br/>Virgil had really, really messed up this time. His anger was crumbling down, leaving an ashamed mess and too much to patch up and too much to fix, so he helplessly raises his hands, before letting them limply fall to his side.</p>
<p><br/>“Sorry.” He whispers, stupidly aware of how useless that was. Roman does not look at him, does not pick up on the apology; in fact, he does not react at all. Virgil wants to say more, but there is not much to say- he meant every single word he had pronounced. There was no taking back.</p>
<p><br/>Already the prince did not look good, and his mood was definitely affected by Thomas' one, and Thomas was now affected by Roman's mood getting even worse—and it was all Virgil's fault. He wonders if he shouldn’t have called him to begin with. If he had not come, they would have solved Thomas' problem without him, and things would be alright.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roman was not essential to cheer Thomas up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Virgil’s brain repeats the sentence before horrifyingly pushing it away. That was not true. That was not. True. Roman was important, and his role was not to be neglected in important matters.</p>
<p>“Uhm, kiddos ?” Patton suddenly chimes in, all small and worried. “Thomas is not getting better... We should focus more on him.” Virgil swallows angry bile down his throat, shame burning his ears. “Come on now, Thomas, tell us what happened.” The paternal side gently urges, smile forcing itself on his face. He was doing what he could to change the subject, and seemed to be successful in his action.</p>
<p><br/>As he starts speaking, words a bit jumbled, the anxious man dedicates himself to listen and give his input as best as he could, uselessly attempting to forget about his earlier discussion with Roman and Remus. Yes, he had messed up. But Thomas was more important than them.</p>
<p><br/>Again, he cringes as the thought, barely hiding it by puckering his lips to a comment from Logan. He allows himself a side glance to Roman, catching him morosely fixing a very interesting spot in his palm. Virgil relaxes when said prince makes a short remark on a point, interpreting that they could talk their own issue out, and that Roman was taking a mature stance to take care of Thomas.</p>
<p><br/>So it was all...swell. Just a little swell. Not very swell. Actually really not swell at all. </p>
<p><br/>As they work through the issue, his mind wanders back to when he had seen Remus. The side looked arrogant, smugly superior in the imagination, and as much as Virgil had to agree that it was pretty natural, it made him furious. How dare he show himself all nice and kind, as if everything was cool-which it was not-and have a chit chat with Roman ?</p>
<p><br/>Remus was dangerous. Remus was very dangerous. Virgil knew that better than everyone, and knew what he could do to Thomas, and therefore also knew he had nothing to chastise himself for when he said that the duke should not be allowed too much power. He hoped Roman could realize that fast enough, because otherwise they could arrive to a point where...</p>
<p><br/>Never mind. No need to reminisce the past.<br/>Logan starts an interesting point, and Virgil focuses on it. Hard. Listening to every single word and by its end, he could already feel better. The logical man always had this talent of calming him down—his impeccable sound reasoning knew no limit. It was safe.</p>
<p><br/>It's only once Thomas smiles genuinely again that Virgil decides to sneak a look at Roman and realizes the Prince was gone. His heart comes to a brutal halt and his fingers freeze, and stomach simultaneously does a flip and squeezes.</p>
<p><br/>Roman was gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had not even seen him—when had he—</p>
<p><br/>“Where is Roman ?”</p>
<p><br/>Shit.</p>
<p><br/>Patton casts a panicked look at the empty spot in front of the TV, and Virgil painfully sees his smile twitch. “Roman ?”</p>
<p><br/>“When did he ?” Thomas starts, but leaves his sentence unfinished. Ultimately, he was starting to fret again, just after all they had done, and all because of that stupidly egoistical—</p>
<p><br/>“He told us he was busy and did not hear our attempts to summon him.” Logan rationalizes. “He must be gone to attend to his business.”</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah, maybe...” Patton uncertainly mumbles. “Maybe he’s gone to converse and find ideas with Remus again ?”</p>
<p><br/>“Probably.” It pains Virgil to see that the logical side truly believed his own words, and was not lying. Roman was clearly upset, he wants to say. It's my fault and he's gone now, he wants to yell. We need to go find him before someone else does, he wants to scream.</p>
<p><br/>But he does do any of those things. He gives a strained nod, before sinking off to his mind palace, weighed down by too many questions and no mean to answer them. Virgil knows he cannot go see Roman either, it'd just make things worse—maybe he needed some time to cool off in the imagination. He'd come back. He never liked having unfinished business-he'd come see Virgil and they'd straightens things out.</p>
<p><br/>This is what was going to happen :<br/>Roman was going to blow off some steam in the imagination, probably creating dragons to fight, and then once he felt better he would feel bad about Virgil seeing him as a bad guy, and would come justify himself. They'd have a heartfelt talk, probably argue and get a bit angry, but ultimately Virgil would apologize and Roman would accept the apologies and understand how dangerous Remus was.</p>
<p><br/>Yes, this was going to happen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>Roman was definitely going to come back.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter is Roman Has A Panic Attack All Alone In The Imagination - What Will He Do ?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Is this okay ? Am I okay ?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Roman is not doing well.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's the existential crisis chapter, or as I like to put it, my excuse to write Roman as a literal god in the imagination and therefore include funny surreal pathetic fallacy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roman never wanted to see Virgil ever again.</p><p>His entire soul was shaking, quaking in his body, rocking his hands back and forth. His feet itch—so he kicks a rock. His neck hurts—so he grabs it and cracks the joint loudly. </p><p>His knee painfully burns. He makes a tree appear in front of him and runs to it, jumps, feels the articulation of his leg pop and snap as soon as he lashes it to kick the tree. It shakes, shakes almost as violently as Roman's soul, and then falls to the ground in a concert of snapping twigs. Still not calmed down, the prince grabs his hair which felt too unnatural, every single hair pricking his skull, and screams.</p><p>His knees, which already were wincing for some reason, give up under him and he falls. As they hit the ground he jolts up with a pained yell, turns on the ground and buries his elbow in the ground. The grass around him melts, all green and sticky and disgusting, dirt on his beautiful white clothes.</p><p>Said clothes which were starting to dip, and felt scratchy on his skin, and his collar was too straight, and his sash was heavy, and Roman yells again.</p><p>Louder.</p><p>All the land around him splits. As his scream reverberates, bouncing off the clouds, he punches the soil and it sticks to his fists. His face his burning, his throat closes up and he gags on clean air—except it was not clean air anymore, it was burning soot. Roman curls his spine, which makes a sound similar to one of a branch breaking, and he coughs. Coughs to push the burning feeling out, coughs to force the flames on his cheeks to burn out, coughs to make his brain rock so hard it'd stop.</p><p>He lets the soil swallow him whole. He could not breathe anyways, he did not need any more oxygen. The grass, already a mass of ugly green goo, shifts and raises itself, before violently plummeting down on him. Now he could not see either, and his mouth fills with acid, and then empties itself as fast as that. </p><p>It hurt. Why did it hurt ? This was his mind palace. This was the imagination. He could chose to make it whatever he wanted it to be. So why was he not capable of making it revert into something pleasant and nice, why was he not capable of filling his own. Goddam. Role ?</p><p>Curse Virgil. Curse Virgil and Logan and Patton. They did not like him, they never liked him, they always tried to push him down. The reason why the clouds were melting and turning into grabbing hands to force his head down were them. They did not listen. They never listened.</p><p>At least Remus understood. He too was ignored. He did not deserve it, Roman thinks. Remus was a good guy. He did not deserve it.</p><p>Neither did Deceit. He was smart. He said intelligent stuff, and never pushed things too far. Why did they not listen to Deceit ? He knew what he was doing. Deceit was smart. He did not deserve to be ignored either.</p><p>From the very bottom of his mind, Roman seems to recall a conversation. With Remus. Was it this morning? He had asked if he was a bad guy.</p><p>The question had never been answered.</p><p>No, he thinks, forcing air that smelled like crisp cut grass into his lungs, he was not a bad guy. He was the Prince. He was creativity, and ego, and without him Thomas would always feel unmotivated and useless.</p><p>But yes, a hundred million voices hiss in his ears. He was a bad guy. He was the Prince, and he never listened, and he forced delusional and unrealistic dreams on Thomas, knowing full well they were only going to lead him to an existence of failure and too high expectations.</p><p>He was doing his best.</p><p>He was harming them all.</p><p>He was essential.</p><p>He wasn’t even able to make them proud.</p><p> </p><p>He could not get up.</p><p>Something is drumming very loudly in his chest, echoing from down that cavity to his ears. He does not know what to do with it. There is something wet in his mouth, but it is not his tongue. All his limbs are heavy, refusing to move, and yet his thoughts run around his nerves in a panicked fashion, ushering him to get up.</p><p>Roman exhales. This had to stop. Since nobody was coming, since nobody cared enough to ask if he was fine, he would have to take care of the damage by itself. He sucks in a deep breath—1, 2, 3—and exhales slowly—1, 2, 3. It does not change a thing, but his head is spinning faster now.</p><p>Pathetic, he tells himself. Could not even control his own outburst, his own mind palace. Was he going to die ? That was ridiculous, sides did not die. Especially not because of stupid mental breakdowns.</p><p>Or. </p><p>Could they ?</p><p>He feels something snap inside his head, which forces his eyes wide open. Dying ? Was he dying ? Was that why his chest was feeling like it would explode ? Had this not happened before ? This had happened before, and he had calmed it down by himself. But what if this time it did not ?</p><p>The ground becomes tangible again under his palms. He yells a colourful word as it does, slipping and falling right on his face in it once again. It was happening again, and a swirl of thoughts coming out of nowhere manifest themselves again with a loud screech and he is terrified. “Make it stop-“ he finally gathers the courage to speak. His lips jumble the words, but maybe he thinks, maybe someone will hear, “Please make it stop-“</p><p> </p><p>And it stops.</p><p> </p><p>Roman hesitantly opens his eyes, and tests the ground beneath him with a little kick, but it does not move. So he rolls on his back, stares at the sky for a bit. It's orange. He does not know what to do with this information.</p><p>Instead of something thumping in his ears, he hears something hitting the ground quickly. It makes him hop a few times, and suddenly something is flinging itself on his chest with a loud yell. The air is forced out of his lungs, but this time it is neither painful nor scary—it’s warm and it moves to grab his back and help him sit down.</p><p>His eyes meet two very similar ones, which inspect him before closing tightly and next thing he knows his brother is hugging the daylights out of him.</p><p>“You...you made it stop ?” Roman asks, testing his voice. Still distraught, he does not like the way it sounds. Remus does not immediately answer, fingers digging deeper in his back with a whine. “I...Thank you. Thank you.”</p><p>He had heard him. His brother had heard him. As he allows his neck to flump and his head to thump down on Remus' shoulder, he bitterly realizes that none of those who antagonized the poor duke had come to help him when he needed to.</p><p>Then again, they were twins. They knew when the other was in trouble. They felt it somewhere in the deepest, coldest part of their bones.</p><p>Remus hiccups. Unsure of whether to speak or let him spill all the fear he had in his head, the prince simply runs a hand up and down his back. He feels exhausted. Moulding the Imagination so fast, into so many tangible and weird pieces was tiring. It had been unintentional, but draining nonetheless.</p><p>“Do you want me to hit the idiots.” The duke finally asks, fear combusting into rage in his words. Roman feels something right click into place, something reassuring about how Remus usually spoke.</p><p>“No, you raccoon with rabies. No need. Nobody is at fault for this. I-“ he wonders what lie to craft. He is so tired, and his brother would see right through it. “I was just. Thinking about things.”</p><p>Remus growls into his shoulder. “More like feeling stuff. Burning hot stuff. But like, in a bad way, not a sexy way.”</p><p>He lets out a bemused chuckle. “Yeah. Not in a sexy way.”</p><p>Then they fall silent again, just sitting in the middle of a field with green grass and a neon orange sky. Roman wonders why the embrace is pleasant, since Remus often enjoyed being repulsive and shocking in everything he did, but after the liquid grass and the soot, the prince knows he would have accepted a hug from a garbage can if it had been offered to him.</p><p>He suddenly notices the lack of sound from Remus, and pulls himself away from the embrace to look at his face. The duke was looking awfully neutral, compared to his usual dramatic expressions, and he just stared back. Without a single word. Roman was exhausted, yes, but as his head got clearer, guilt highlighted itself as well.</p><p>“I'm sorry.”</p><p>“For what ?” Remus instantly shoots back.</p><p>“For worrying you ?”</p><p>The duke maintains eye contact, only slightly frowning. “It’s not your fault. You don't just melt down all alone with no reason.”</p><p>Roman scoffs. “You are underestimating my mind.”</p><p>“Ok, edgelord, but,” and now he slowly hardens his grip on his brother's shoulder, “tell me what happened.”</p><p>Ice starts spreading from the prince's stomach. He can feel it freeze the acid in there, then travel fast through his blood and up to his head. It was somewhat numb, but also painfully prickly. </p><p>Remus tightens his grasp again. “Tell. Me.”</p><p>As he sees anger build up, raging fire in his brother's eyes contrasting to his own icy pain, he swallows hard. “I-it was nothing.”</p><p>“You literally started breaking down half the imagination.” Remus hisses. “I don't think nothing would have made you destroy so many of your prized creations.”</p><p>The ice gets worse, as he feels blood entirely freeze on his face. “Oh no. What did I-“</p><p>“If I had not felt your pain-which I did because I am a wonderful twin-I would have witnessed it ripping apart the flesh of your cute little birdies.” Roman opens his mouth in panic, but he is cut. “Thankfully I was quick enough.”</p><p>Oxygen suddenly makes it back in his body. He shivers, his mouth jerks up and down as relief warms him up even a little bit. “Oh thank god.”</p><p>“Thank me, you mean.” The duke rolls his eyes. “Although I am not certain of the extent of the damage. We'll check later.”</p><p>He feels more dumb than numb. “Remus.” His brother blinks, and he does not look smug anymore. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” His throat closes in before he can continue repeating it.</p><p>“Please don't start crying again ?” Remus sheepishly asks, extending a hand to wrap it around his shoulders again. But Roman takes the given hand in his instead, firmly holding it. Remus was here. Remus was real. Remus cared enough to actually show up. </p><p>“Thank you.” He manages to force out without leaking a single more tear. Good boy Roman, he thinks. A pat on the back for the manly rough voice.</p><p>His brother seems to inspect the held hand for a moment, almost lost in thought. He does tighten his grasp as well, expression turning into one that still held clear frustration over Roman's refusal of speaking about what had happened but—he clearly had no intention of forcing him. Again, Roman is reminded of how much credit Remus deserved from the “light” sides.</p><p>Roman can breathe better with someone here. He does not like admitting how weak and small and scared he felt all alone, because a prince, as royalty, had to have a clear and strong head not only for himself but also his kingdom at any given time of crisis. That was a nice joke, considering he was not even able of keeping in check his own outbursts and could have very well destroyed half the imagination with that snap of a finger if it was not for Remus.</p><p>Remus who was essential. Even after the fated split, the dramatic separation of the two twins, they stayed parts of the same whole. Remus needed Roman to be “tamed”, to calm his ideas down in order to make them mentally bearable. But Roman needed Remus too, because the ego can only be so much when bruised. The duke was stronger because he <em>did not care</em>. </p><p><br/>
The prince, on the other hand, was weak and easily manipulated because <em>he cared too much</em>, all because of his involvement with the “light” sides.</p><p>“Hey, Romulus,” Roman blinks, pulled out from dangerous thoughts by his brother again. Remus looked a little more confident about his words now, a little less careful to not break Roman again. The prince did feel better as well—he did not think he had the strength to go full out again, so even if he did break down, he'd break down on his own, without the imagination.</p><p>He nods mutely at his brother to ask him to continue, and Remus' face splits into a big grin, full of pride. “I have a surprise for you !”</p><p>“Do you now ?” his brother looked way too happy about the surprise. It made him worry.</p><p>“Yep! Guess what it is ?”</p><p>“I'd rather not.” </p><p>“Aw, okay,” Remus cheekily grins back, then stretches back in a superior, indolently ‘I don’t care’ attitude. “I spoke with Dee.”</p><p>“With-“ he makes the association, and instantly his heart jolts up. “Deceit ?”</p><p>“Yeap !” leaning back further, the duke inspects his nails, unable to hide his smirk. “Yeap yeap. He was very intrigued...”</p><p>“Is he okay with speaking with me ??”</p><p>“Jeez—let me finish won't you ?” Roman falls silent, eyes sparkling nevertheless. His brother giggles, then claps his hands. “I was saying... Of course he’s okay with it !!”</p><p>The prince feels ecstatic, sharing all the sudden giddiness emanating from his brother. He grabs his shoulders, feeling happiness stretch his lips until his cheeks hurt, and he laughs. A little astonished, but he laughs. “For real ?”</p><p>“And we should go right now !!”</p><p>“Right- wait ?” he touches his chest, pats himself down, “I must look terrible ?”</p><p>Remus swats him away. “Aw it's fineee... It'll make him even more curious about what the three idiots did again.” </p><p>Them, Roman thinks. Virgil and Patton and Logan. What would they think ? Going to speak with a “dark” side ? The most deceiving of all ? The one who could not be trusted ?</p><p>He almost has a doubt. A second thought. A little warning alarm going off in his head as the three yelled at him to come back.</p><p>But they had also yelled at him to go away.</p><p>Virgil had yelled at him that his function was-</p><p>
  <em>The apology seemed sincere, though, did it not ? But... He was so angry...and he shouted so loud... Virgil probably never wanted to see him every again.</em>
</p><p>Remus seemed to be waiting, toes itching to immediately go to...Deceit's mind palace ? Curiosity takes over along with a certain despair to find someone who would understand, and Roman finally gets up from his crouched position on the ground.</p><p>The grass is still bright green. The sky is still an unnatural orange. Remus still looks crazed and ecstatic, giggling while jumping up and down. Roman laughs with his brother, overwhelmed by just the feeling to be happy—because otherwise he would be sad. And he could not be sad.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, what are we waiting for ?”</p><p> </p><p>“Me.” A new voice suddenly speaks up from behind him. A familiar voice. A smooth, yet chilling one. “You are waiting for me.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here he is. Snake bastard.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Snakes can have emotions and still look good</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Remus is really happy about Deceit showing up, and Roman has so much to say about many things.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First off thank you so much for your kind comments!!I've only gotten positive feedback so far and it makes me super happy :) I still don't know exactly where I'm going with this fic but I'm having fun with it, and I hope you have fun reading it !!!<br/>(Its 1am and  I'm emotional)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, this entire situation was a mess, and Remus had no idea if that should make him laugh or feel uneasy.</p><p><br/>
His brother was a ball of boiling nerves both inside and outside, which made him feel even more nervous since he cared so much about his appearance. In normal times he could have just snapped his fingers and looked presentable again but clearly, that would be close to impossible after the mayhem he had unleashed on the Imagination.</p><p><br/>
Which reminds Remus he needed to get rid of all those deer corpses he found in the forest. Roman did not need to see those.</p><p><br/>
Deceit, on the other hand, looked just as usual. Dashing, that is. Holding himself perfectly straight (ha), hat neatly put on his head, clothes so clean you could eat off of them. It was almost comical; the man stood in all his glory while the prince pretty much seemed as if he could pass out by the second.</p><p><br/>
Too many feelings for a day, Remus concludes. Maybe he should not have called Deceit like this out of the blue. But it was kind of fun—plus it’d force Roman to show the true effect these three bastards had on him. He was literally cornered, but it was for his own good. The duke would not let him go without learning everything he needed to learn.</p><p><br/>
He opens his mouth to greet Deceit but right before he can say a single word, he catches his brother sharply flicking his wrist. Oh no you fucking don't he starts but already the prince is all cleaned up. Remus is tempted to jump on him and mess his appearance all over again but his eyes slide over to Deceit who looked oddly... Amused ? So he stops, unsure.</p><p><br/>
“Well, hello, Deceit,” Roman starts, voice confident yet only a pale replica of his usual booming tone. A for effort, Remus thinks, but does not speak yet. “A pleasure to have you here. Pardon me for the mess.” The prince politely continues, and bows his head hesitantly. The snake man does not move. His eyes judge him up and down, and after a moment that hangs for too long in the air, he smiles.</p><p><br/>
“It's a pleasure to be here.” He says, tone light. “Do not worry about the...inconveniences. In fact, I find them quite convenient for what we are about to discuss.” He ends with another smile, a little wider, a little scarier. By this point, Remus is questioning what little is left of his brother's disguise—Deceit had a way with words, a way with his body, that made anyone strip down all their layers of useless protection. </p><p><br/>
Virgil knew that better than anyone, he muses. Logan, from what he had seen, did not have many layers of superficial protection—the man just was naturally strong (Remus was obligated to concede so, even though he hated him very much). Patton, though, was probably the one with the least lies enveloping him; as in one or two to appear constantly cheerful, but he showed panic and stress quicker than others which made it easy to notice said false happiness.</p><p><br/>
And that brought them back to Roman, who was barely still standing, which made Remus quite a bit impressed. He had nearly broken down not half, as Remus had told him, but the entirety of his nice kingdom; and yet like an idiot wasted most of his left strength on looking good. Deceit was seeing right through it. Roman had no idea how fast he was going to be broken down to his bare essentials.</p><p><br/>
Deceit said it often : “To get better, you have to get worse first.” And honestly, Remus believed him. It was impossible to admit problems if one did not allow themselves to feel bad about them. But sadly, this mentality was completely rejected by his dear brother who categorically refused any of his weaknesses since showing them ultimately led to his own downfall and proof that the three “light” sides did not care. At all.</p><p><br/>
And that made Remus more furious than anything else ever had. If it was not for his brother’s pointless love for all of them despite it all, he would have long since killed them all over and over again. His body just wanted to—itched to hurt them, itched to punch and kick and draw blood and watch them all so perfect crumble under his hands.</p><p><br/>
“Alright, then.” Deceit suddenly speaks again, and his calm voice dissipates all background anger in Remus' mind. “Remus told me you wished to see me for some reason. Which was it ?”</p><p><br/>
Roman clearly hesitates. The duke can feel, can even hear the ‘I have no idea’ playing in repeat in his brother's head but does not pipe in. In normal times he would have made a quipping remark, but not today. He, as surprising as it was, did not feel like saying anything. This was Roman's problem, and he had to learn how to acknowledge it by his own. Yelling at him about how shitty the other sides were would not bring them anywhere.</p><p><br/>
“Well, I hoped,” the pauses are clear between his words, the prince was forcing himself to fill the silence. “That we could maybe, speak about, how your ideas and contribution was important and mattered and, that I think that, it would be good if you were listened to more by Thomas.”</p><p><br/>
Once finished, Roman anxiously smiles, then casts a side glance to his brother who supportively taps his back. The smile on the prince's lips wavers, wobbles and Remus hears him struggle to take another breath but he was doing fine, all things considered. The duke allows him to lean a little bit into his shoulder, reminded of how close the other was to potentially just fainting, and then directs his gaze to Deceit who had not answered yet.</p><p><br/>
He looked...confused. He blinks slowly, frowns, then his face goes back to its usual calm and relaxed facade. “Alright, that was a bit hard to understand but,” he looked careful in his choice of words, “I seem to understand you wish for me to have a bigger role in Thomas' decision process ?”</p><p><br/>
Remus pushes his brother encouragingly. “Y-yeah—I think that’s what I mean uh—” he stops, brings a hand to his face and presses his fingers to his forehead in exhaustion. “I—yes. Yes that's what I mean.”</p><p><br/>
“Would you want to continue this conversation later ?” Deceit suddenly asks, an unexpected worry slipping through his tone. Remus gives him the smallest shake of his head to disagree, but Roman shows a much bigger reaction, jerking upright and quickly putting his hand down to his side again.</p><p><br/>
“NO—I mean—no. I'm fine I just—” he takes a step forward, painfully pushing on his leg to support the sudden movement. “Something just happened—that was unpleasant—and that made me realize some things—and these things further push me to speak to you.”</p><p><br/>
Remus glows in pride, and Deceit seems to notice. He blinks in acknowledgement to the duke, then his attention goes back to Roman who, despite only this much awake, looks ready to take on an entire army with only his fist and passion. And Remus knows that Deceit very much respects that.</p><p><br/>
“I see.” He simply says as a start. “I appreciate your sentiment, but I suppose the other three will not be as...comprehensive.” slowly picking his words, the man pauses. “I also suppose it is because of them that you are in such a state.”</p><p><br/>
“You suppose well.” Roman mumbles back, sighing. His expression looks less strained, though. “I must confess I am a little tired of their...excessive desire to always be perfectly good. I don’t know how to explain.”</p><p><br/>
“You make enough sense like this, it is alright.” Deceit interrupts. “But again, we could speak of what I believe would be better options to take for Thomas, except I doubt that would bring us anywhere.” He admits, a point of disappointment in his tone. Remus does not want to hear this, but he is right, but Roman could—</p><p><br/>
“Look, they don't listen to me either anymore.” He suddenly says. The duke freezes on his spot. </p><p><br/>
He had completely forgotten.</p><p><br/>
“I had caught that during the trial.” Deceit concedes. His eyes slide from one brother to the other, and Remus definitely catches the ‘this is pointless' in his expression. He shivers.</p><p><br/>
“I think, you could try to come in more frequently, and more as yourself, you know ?” Roman continues, blabbering a little. “If instead of taking our place, although I'm sure that must be very fun, you came undisguised, the three would be more inclined to listen.”</p><p><br/>
“What makes you think that ?” he was starting to sound bored now. Remus feels frustration build up in his head, wants to yell at Deceit to just listen and accept the help that was being offered—”I mean, they will hate me no matter in which form I present myself to them.”</p><p><br/>
“That’s where you’re wrong, actually.” The prince abruptly cuts in. He looks a little more powerful as confidence finds it place in his speech again. “One of the most important reason why they refuse to see your input as valuable is because you disguise it. I know you are deceit, and this is what you do, but if you came without incapacitating any of them they won't see you as too much of an antagonist.”</p><p><br/>
Deceit narrows his eyes. Remus knows he has to give this point to his brother because he was right—and besides, he knew more about the other sides than both the duke and the snake. He was their most reliable source of information, most reliable first contact to get closer to the others.</p><p><br/>
“Alright. I can see your point.” The yellow clad man admits, which makes Roman smile in genuine relief. “But—” now it was his turn to hesitate. “Do you truly believe they will automatically listen to me when I—”</p><p><br/>
“No.” He stops, bashfully rubs his neck. “Sorry—uh—I—"</p><p><br/>
“Go on.”</p><p><br/>
Roman takes a deep breath. “They won't. I know that, as I used to not listen to Virgil just because I felt like he was evil. But as time passed, I understood he was useful, and not a bad guy, and that all he did was ultimately to protect Thomas. So,” he raises his head, a certain bright light pushing his speech forward, “no, they won't listen to you at first. It will be frustrating, and I'm sorry, but as time will pass they will understand that you are also here to protect Thomas, and that they cannot just ignore you.”</p><p><br/>
Deceit looks astonished. It was weird, seeing actual unhidden emotion on his face, but it was happening, and Remus once again finds himself with a warm ball of sunshine obstructing his throat. The snake man opens his mouth, closes it, and blinks. No word comes out.</p><p><br/>
Roman takes it as an invitation to keep going. “But don't worry, I’ll try to support you the best I can ! I already started defending Remus in front of them—” said duke’s eyes widen, and he can feel the way his brother struggles for the next words, “and—and Logan and Patton accepted it. They saw that he was not all bad. There was some resistance but—” again, he hesitates, “We’ll get through it.”</p><p><br/>
His words are so stupidly hopeful. So Disney approved bright. But right now, they are enough, and as cheesy as they were they made Remus want to jump and hug the daylights out of his brother. Deceit looks like he is sharing part of those feelings, but still his eyes remain clouded in a mix of thoughts but mostly surprise.</p><p><br/>
“You...” He stares at Roman with an expression of pure bewilderment, leaning his head forward, “...are the most optimistic idiot I have ever met.”</p><p><br/>
“That's what I keep on telling him!!!” Remus finally bursts, glee bubbling in his exclamation. He catches the bittersweet smile his brother shows at the remark but it is more sweet than it is bitter, and it most certainly is genuine. He looks exhausted still and yet, his looks remain intact—his own passion and pointless optimism protecting them. </p><p><br/>
The duke was so, so proud. If asked, he would not have been able to exactly describe the situation or what this exchange truly meant but he would be able to say one thing : he had never felt happier about being himself than that day. Roman embodied everything that was offering him a chance to be heard, or more precisely a chance for his ideas to be heard—and he could not have been more grateful.</p><p><br/>
Deceit should be feeling as such too, he thinks. Deceit is astonished, dumbfounded, staring at Roman as if the man had just grown a second head. There was no lie, no false delusion, no covered up ugly truth offered to him to later on watch him fall. The prince was entirely honest. He had stripped himself bare, metaphorically, all by himself without having Deceit force through his barriers.</p><p><br/>
He was offering himself bare, because there was nothing else he had to give anymore. </p><p><br/>
At his core he still was this being fuelled by hope, and there was a beauty in said hope that even Remus could not deny. The “light” sides might find that surprising, but the duke appreciated positive feelings as well—after all, who didn’t ?</p><p><br/>
Even the eternally deceptive snake could love a little hope once in a while.</p><p><br/>
“I will think about it.” Deceit eventually answers quietly, eyes evading the two twins' stares. “And if I require any assistance, I will” he pauses, “I will call upon you. If that is alright.”</p><p><br/>
Remus feels the joy radiating from his brother at the remark. “Of course !” he laughs but the sound is a little faint, “You can come visit me anytime. Same goes for Remus but I suppose you two already know each other well enough.”</p><p><br/>
“Oh yes, well enough, but a little well-er could not hurt.” Remus pipes in with a giggle, earning himself a glare. Oh well, he deserved that one. </p><p><br/>
“Now I would advise you to get some rest, Roman, because in all honesty,” the duke laughs at the choice of words “you look a little pale.”</p><p><br/>
The prince nods, as if suddenly realizing how much power and willpower it had taken him to keep standing. He lets himself fall in a sitting position in the ground, grunting ungracefully, and Deceit gestures to leave as dramatically as he had entered but as he does so, Roman's head rolls backwards.</p><p><br/>
And he finally passes out.</p><p><br/>
Remus first rushes to his brother's side but after a little face slapping realizes that it was only exhaustion catching up and that the other had simply fallen asleep right on the spot. He laughs upon said realization, because of course stupid stupid Roman would pass out right at the best moment. At least he had held on until the end of the conversation.</p><p><br/>
He pushes a few strands of hair out of the prince’s face with a sigh, observing the peaceful sleeping expression he bore. Sometimes Remus would have this awkward realization that his brother was, well, his brother, and that ergo it was natural for him to feel fond of him—a fluffy feeling just like a soft glowing torch in his heart—and yet every time said feeling came in, he was surprised. Or more precisely, he was taken aback at how much love he could feel for a person platonically.</p><p><br/>
And then usually five seconds later Roman would do something that was so incredibly princey that Remus would revert back to his default “vibe check” mode.</p><p><br/>
But now he was asleep, so it'd take him more time to do something like that, which meant that Remus would be feeling all mushy until he woke up. The duke does not know if that was a good thing.</p><p><br/>
A little suddenly, Remus feels someone sit down next to him and make the grass fold and shiver. The ground only lightly bounces underneath him, and he does not need to turn around to see Deceit sighing loudly before letting his entire back fall down to be laying flat.</p><p><br/>
“An impressive performance it was.” He says to the orange sky (Remus liked the colour). “I did not think Roman out of all of them had it in him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well he does !” </p><p> </p><p><br/>
“He does.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>They fall back in a very comfortable silence. Deceit was probably watching the clouds, of a pleasant pinkish colour, twirl in shapes that were more or less abstract, and many of which he definitely did not know because Remus himself was making them up as he thought. </p><p> </p><p>“I am a little worried I’m growing soft because of him.” The duke admits after a few seconds of full quiet which were already too much. </p><p><br/>
The snake man next to him offers him a slightly mocking laugh as an answer. Then, “Is that such a bad thing ?”</p><p> </p><p><br/>
“Maybe. I haven't felt this much love since...a long time ago.”</p><p> </p><p><br/>
The other hesitates for a bit. “Yeah. Me too.”</p><p><br/>
Remus felt tired. But also satisfied. He was expecting something imminent to happen—something  perhaps not pleasant, but that would lead to pleasant times. He knew that Deceit could sense it too, by the way he flexed his ankles. The tip of his shoes pointed up, then forward, then up again in a gentle cycle. He watches it for some time, allowing himself to drift a little further into positive thinking.</p><p><br/>
This was a slice of eternity which stretched between them and the sky. While Roman slept, while his mind was elsewhere, the Imagination was resting. Almost preparing himself to face many more hardships to come.</p><p> </p><p>There was still a lot to do. A lot to uncover. A lot to talk about.</p><p> </p><p><br/>
But it would be fine.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
Yeah, it would all be fine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Spoiler : will it really be fine tho???</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Scream at me and take a look at my art on tumblr onefrenchcappuccinoplease </p>
<p>I have no idea where I'm going with this but. I'm going.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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